Auradon Protector Academy For The Gifted
by LiliacSkies
Summary: AU: Mal, who has spent her teenage years training to become a Protector, is sent into Mortal society to discover the cause of a rapid decrease of magic in the town of Auradon. In attempts to keep her identity hidden, as well as her involvement with the secret world of magic, will she survive high school? And who will she meet along the way?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Senior Year Assignment**

All her life, Mal had been surrounded by one thing and one thing only; magic.

The moment she was born and declared a Holder of Magic, she was marked as a prodigy, a one in a million discovery. Birthed by Mortals, her magic was considered a miracle, an incredible discovery at the time. She began casting small spells just as quickly as she'd begun walking, and over the years, she became a phenomenal Holder. Able to perform complicated spells with just a flick of her wrist.

Over the centuries, magic had become part of everyone's daily lives. Some were born with it, and some were cursed without it, but the world lived in relative harmony. There were rules and regulations on what Holders were able to do, and also on what Mortals could do, but in Mal's life, nothing was that simple.

At the young age of ten, Mal saw her once normal suburban life slip away.

The Program was designed for gifted Holders, the ones with special talents. Her parents had always known the day would come where she'd be snatched away to begin her training, yet they never thought the day would come so soon.

The Program trained gifted Holders into becoming secret members of society, 'Protectors of Peace' as some referred them as. They were trained with the best education from the best trainers all over the world, tasked with important missions to keep the balance of the world intact. Over the years, it was notorious for Protectors to become hard shells, to detach from society completely to complete the tasks at hand.

For Mal, it became harsh reality.

She'd now spent seven years behind the walls of the Auradon Protector Academy, a secret institution housed behind tall stone walls and inside an ancient building. No one dared to cross the gilded gates of the property, leaving her hidden away from the world, allowing her to become one of the finest Protectors the Academy had ever produced.

Behind her short silken purple locks lay fiery green eyes that could peer into your soul, framed by beautiful long lashes and chiseled by a set of pointed eyebrows. Her skin was ghostly pale, decorated by delicate freckles, softening her features. Her lips were plump and round, leaving room for a dainty thin nose to complete her face.

She was unequivocally beautiful, blessed in both looks and smarts. She was the perfect student, and soon, the perfect Protector.

The halls of Auradon's Protector Academy came alive that September morning, crowds of teenagers re-entering the institution to greet their friends, officially beginning the new school term. Mal, however, had arrived days prior, her summer having come to an early end due to her parents busy schedule. She'd spent the last few days re-exploring the academy, making sure nothing had changed in the old castle building. She travelled through the hidden passageways and relaxed in the ample library, ready to begin another term in her life at the academy.

It was her final school year before her early admission to the Protector Programme, which allowed her to become a full-time Protector under the government's supervision. It had been her dream ever since she'd arrived at the academy all those years ago, and soon, that dream would become reality. She would be able to travel the world through the tasks assigned to her, as well as gaining access to the full potential of her powers.

She slipped into her uniform as numerous teenagers arrived through the doors of the institution, already clad in their black blazers and blue ties. Her own uniform was identical, with a matching black skirt falling just above her knees. She adjusted her blue tie and smoothed out the lapels of the blazer, piped in golden thread and embezzled with the academy logo on the chest. The golden crest was what she'd hidden behind for years, granting her protection and a home. It was refreshing being able to wear it once again, like being back at home.

She stepped out of her dorm room gracefully, her roommates yet to return from their extravagant holidays. She closed the door behind her before ascending down a large set of oak stairs, the low heels of her black patent shoes clicking against the wood. The smooth banister felt familiar as her hand slid over the wood, and soon, she found herself on the ground floor of the institution, which buzzed with life.

Students of all ages and nationalities roamed the corridors of the ground floor. The large foyer was filled with teenagers holding their luggage, gleefully greeting their friends and roommates and showing off new magical tricks they'd learnt. A couple of kids stood by, nervously waiting for their allocated teachers to begin their academy tours. Mal smirked at the sight, remembering her own first few weeks at the academy.

Without a doubt, she knew this year was going to be _her_ year.

* * *

Mal slipped into the bleak white classroom silently, taking her usual seat near the back of the room. Although it was only their first day back, all senior students were expected to attend their introductory classes for their final year in the academy. The classroom slowly filled in, a sea of blacks and blues contrasting against the stark white of the walls and desks. There were no posters or windows in the room, preventing any and every distraction from the days lecture.

Mal watched as both familiar and unfamiliar faces entered the room. The Hook twins were taking their seats at the front of the classroom, both greeting their respective friends. The familiar face of Freddie Facilier soon followed, her gaze settling on Mal before she began making her way to her purple-haired friend.

"Looking good M," Freddie greeted as she took the empty seat next to Mal, swinging her feet onto the table, "Pasty and pale as usual."

"I heard about your mishaps with the freshmen this morning," Mal retorted, "Wouldn't expect anything less from you, after all."

"You shrink one guy's head, and suddenly you're the 'bad guy'," Freddie complained, "I was building his _character_."

"Like you were building Uma's character last year when you turned her hair green?" Mal smirked, "I think she's still mad about that, by the way. Something about reporting you to your dad."

Freddie rolled her eyes, unable to reply as their teacher walked in. She quickly put her feet back onto the ground as the classroom quieted down, everyone ready and waiting for the professor to begin.

"Good morning students," Professor Merlin began, "And welcome back to our illustrious academy. As you all know, this is one of the most crucial years of your education as a Protector, and after a long debate with the school board, the faculty has decided that this year will be a little... Different, to put it simply."

Instantly, the classroom burst into a frenzy of whispers, soon quietened by the Professor raising his hand. Mal raised her eyebrow at the news, interested in this sudden new development.

"This year," Professor Merlin began, lowering his arm, "Rather than learning through academic practice like we have for the past few years, we have decided you will all be partaking in both field work _and_ academic work. For the first part of your course, you will be receiving an assignment you will complete either alone, in pairs, or in groups.

"You will receive your assignment packs shortly, which have been designed specifically for each and every individual students," Professor Merlin continued, ignoring the shocked look on his students faces, "However, before I distribute the packs, Headmaster Facilier would like to see the following students..."

"Did you know about this?" Mal whispered to Freddie, who simply shook her head. Although Freddie's dad may run the Academy, she was kept in the dark about a lot of things.

"Miss Maleficent, you and Miss Facilier are to report to the Headmaster's office immediately for debriefing," Professor Merlin announced, opening the door to the classroom as he motioned for the two unmoving students, "Come on, off you go."

* * *

Mal nervously tapped her foot against the wooden floor of the office as she awaited for the headmaster to arrive. On her left sat Freddie, who was just as nervous if not more so than Mal was. Both girls sat in silence, both clueless as to why they'd been selected out of the whole student body. They were too nervous to speak, unable to meet each other's gaze until the sound of the creaking office door opening broke their trails of thought, Headmaster Facilier entering the office.

"Ah! I see you two received my message," Headmaster Facilier smiled deviously yet kindly to his daughter, his walking cane in one hand and an old book in the other, "I imagine this must all be happening very quickly for you two, but I assure you that the school board is convinced without a doubt that you two ladies are the prime candidates for our... _Special project_."

"You see," Headmaster Facilier continued, "We have recently picked up an influx of magical activity in Auradon itself, and although this in itself isn't a bad thing, the kind of magical activity is what's concerning us. We have reason to believe someone is extracting the magic out of Auradon, and we believe that if you two are willing to team up for this assignment, you can gather enough intel to stop this from happening."

"Why us?" Mal immediately asked, "Why not graduated Protectors, or even seniors?"

"Because you two scored the highest registered marks in your exams last year, and the year before, as well as the perfect marks you have received in practice fieldwork," Headmaster Facilier explained, finally taking a seat at his desk in front of the two girls, "We believe that with your combined set of skills, you two can prevent this issue from escalating to global proportions. We need both of you to accomplish this assignment."

"What does the assignment actually require us to do?" Freddie pressed, crossing her arms.

"The winter term in Auradon Prep High School begins next monday," Headmaster Facilier began, "We would like for both of you to attend the school for a brief few terms to gather information from the students, but also to seamlessly blend into the Auradon community. Freddie, you will be monitoring any statistical information whilst Mal, you will be concentrating on on-the-field action."

"And what do we do when we've located whatever it is that's sucking the magic away from Auradon?" Freddie asked, "Do you want us to stop it or-"

"That would be far too dangerous," Headmaster Facilier waved her off, "We'd like for you to gather intel and find out what exactly is causing the disruption in the magical activity. However, once you believe you have gathered and learnt all that you can, we'll hand the case off to trained professional Protectors who will stop these events."

"So, you want us to infiltrate a high school which houses Mortals and secretly investigate a potentially devastating threat?" Mal asked in disbelief, yet with undeniable excitement in her eyes.

"Precisely," Headmaster Facilier confirmed, "But only if you accept the assignment. If not, you will be placed on a training programme like the rest of your classmates, and we will select different students."

"I'm in," Freddie concluded, "But just to confirm, we will be able to miss all of our classes right?"

"Indeed, but you'll be attending classes in the high school instead," Headmaster Facilier explained to his daughter, "We intend for you to seamlessly blend into the high school as new students. However, this will be discussed further in your debriefing session later on today."

"I'm in too," Mal confirmed, unable to keep her excitement for long, "When do we start?"

"We'll have you enrolled by the end of today," Headmaster Facilier answered with a smile, "Ladies, welcome to the beginning of your final year."

* * *

 **A/N: So... New story.**

 **This story is an AU inspired by the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. I basically grew up reading them, and I feel like I should be giving such a wonderful series credit through work of my own.**

 **This story will eventually filter in other characters from the movies, with an eventual introduction of Ben. I plan to write this story in in-depth detail, therefore uploads may be somewhat slow. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoy x**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: The First Day**

The debriefing for Mal and Freddie's senior year project had been long and complex, covering every single detail of what the girls were expected to do during the assignment. A week later, the night before their very first day in the high school, Mal laid in bed with thoughts running through her head.

No one could know about her powers, nor about the Protector scheme. Everything had to remain a secret to allow for the operation to be a success with minimum interference. She had spent countless hours researching into what she should expect from a normal high school. She'd prepared herself for the prospect of cliques, bullying, and any useless drama that may ensue. In all honesty, Mal knew the most terrifying aspect of high school was prom, but she wasn't expecting to stay in the school for that long.

She'd watched countless films and read countless articles, and she hoped that was enough. After all, you can't really prepare for normality. At the end of the day, Mal didn't really know what to expect, but she was prepared for anything.

They had concocted brilliant cover stories. To try and blend in, Mal had decided to opt out of having her natural purple hair, and instead had decided to replace it with a long glossy dark brown wig. Although she would have preferred blonde, the brown would conceal her purple hair far better. The wig was placed delicately on a stand on her bedside table, ready for the following day.

Mal planned to blend in seamlessly and create as little friendships as possible. She wasn't very fond of people as a whole, and instead preferred to slip unnoticed into the shadows. Freddie, on the other hand, had planned to join any sports team she could as an attempt to discover more data. Although Freddie's assignment was to record Mal's process, she was willing to work practically too.

The basis of their assignment was for Mal to infiltrate the school and for Freddie to monitor the magic activity itself. Freddie was much more of a technology and statistics Protector, happy to work from behind a desk and to use her powers in analysis. Mal, however, was far happier in the field, running and spell casting. This made them a perfect team

Freddie hadn't planned to change her appearance. With her perfectly straight black hair always tied into two ponytails, she was certain she'd easily blend in. Both of their wardrobes had been carefully picked by agents monitoring their assignment, sized to fit the girls perfectly. Every single detail had been meticulously planned, yet despite this, Mal still felt nervous.

It was her first real assignment after all. This could make or break her career for the rest of her life. She was determined not to fail. After all, it wasn't just her career on the line, but the world of magic itself could suffer.

With these thoughts racing through her mind, Mal finally settled into a deep sleep, ready for the day ahead.

* * *

It was weird, Mal thought, to be driving to her first day of normal high school. She wasn't nervous, just... Perplexed at the situation. It was odd, to say the least.

Freddie would be arriving separate to Mal to make sure no correlation would be made between the two. That meant that from now on, Mal was on her own.

The wig had been itchy on her scalp at first, but Mal had learnt to ignore it. Paired with a simple leather jacket, black jeans and a purple top, Mal looked just like the average teenage girl. Freddie had attached a hidden device in the soles of her black boots to be able to monitor the magical activity as Mal explored the school and the city.

She was being driven into the high school by one of the graduated Protectors, disguised as her fake mother. The two barely spoke during the car ride, Mal curiously watching as the town of Auradon zipped past her through the windows. She could already spot numerous students walking towards the high school, chatting with their friends gleefully. Once again, it was odd.

"We're two minutes away," the Protector announced, "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Mal confirmed, wiping her hands on her trousers.

"We've already delivered all of your fake information to the school, so all you'll need is your timetable from the office," the Protector continued, "You have your cover story ready, correct?"

"Its impenetrable," Mal confirmed as they pulled into the high school parking lot.

"Well then, good luck," the Protector finished, "If you need anything, you have my number."

"Thanks, Mom," Mal joked with a smirk, opening the car door, "See you later!"

"Have a great day in school honey!" the Protector called back loudly, causing Mal to laugh as she began walking towards the school entrance.

Mal could feel the weight of the unfamiliar black backpack on her back as she casually walked towards the school entrance. The school seemed different to what she expected. Instead of a desolate car park, the parking lot was surrounded by trees and various greenery. The school itself seemed converted from a castle to a much more modern building. The main building itself was made of cloudy white stone, the main door a large old wooden door. It was somewhat magical-looking, Mal thought, like something from a fairytale.

The interior was a lot more modern, with blue lockers lining the halls and posters plastered onto the same cloudy white stone walls. The floor was made of linen dark wood, matching the door. Blue and golden banners also hung from the walls with the school logos proudly embroidered on them. Mal admired the decor for just a few seconds before springing into action.

She looked around blindly for some sort of sign pointing her to the main office. Unable to spot one, she tried looking for a teacher. Eventually, she settled on a shy-looking boy with bleached-to-white hair nervously fiddling with one of the lockers. She made her way towards him confidently.

"Hey," Mal began, causing the boy to jump and spin his head towards her, "Sorry, I'm new around here - do you know where the main office is? I'm trying to pick up my timetable."

"I-I, um," the boy stuttered, seeming very nervous, "E-East hall, s-second l-left down this h-hall."

"Thanks," Mal nodded, unfazed by the boys odd behaviour. Immediately she began stalking down the hall, eager to begin the mission.

She curiously peered at the other students in the halls, who all seemed to be seamlessly blended into the school. She could spot a few girls with matching uniforms, Mal assumed cheerleading uniforms, and quite a few boys wearing matching letterman jackets. Clearly the school was not lacking in the school pride department.

She easily found the office once entering the East hall, collecting her timetable and locker code in just a few minutes. The overly-happy secretary had been nearly annoyingly peppy, with her lilac dress and large pink tied bow around her neck. She seemed happy to help, clearly loving her job with a little too much enthusiasm.

Mal scanned her timetable briefly. She could see she'd been put down to attend art lessons, which she found rather unexpected. She expected to attend as few classes as possible, but she was happy to try new things if it meant completing the mission.

According to her timetable and her watch, it was nearly time for homeroom. She began walking down the East Hall once again, counting down the room numbers until she finally arrived to A43.

The door was stuck open, with a few students already in the room. Making her way inside, she dodged everyones eyes as she took a seat in the middle of the second row. Looking up, she realised that no one was actually looking at her, too busy catching up with friends. One couple in particular caught Mal's eyes.

The boy was sat at his desk, a letterman jacket hung at the back of his seat. A girl, who Mal assumed was his girlfriend, was sat on top of the desk with her legs crossed, playing with the boys hair. She too was clad in the school colours, however wearing a cheerleading uniform instead.

The girl had long light brown hair, curled perfectly past her shoulders, and a pair of sunglasses strategically placed on her head. Mal also noticed her shoes, which were heeled pumps, rather surprisingly for a cheerleader. She seemed self-assured and confident, even more so when Mal tuned into their conversation.

"This season is going to rock," the girl gushed, "With me as cheer captain and you as the Tourney captain, we're going to dominate the field. Don't you think so, Benny-Boo?"

"Definetly," the boy agreed with a dazzling smile to the girl. Mal rolled her eyes at the nickname, deciding to turn back to the front of the classroom.

She still had a few minutes before homeroom was scheduled to start, and so she pulled out her new phone. Of course she'd had a phone before, but it was very much simple and practical. Having a smartphone for the first time was oddly distracting, with the dazzling colours of the different apps and the customisation of the phone itself. It wasn't like she was new to modern technology, but she'd never felt the need to possess it herself.

The first bell rung throughout the school, making Mal jump slightly. Signalling the beginning of homeroom, Mal tucked her phone away into her pocket, watching as the Cheerleader Girl waved goodbye to her boyfriend before leaving. Multiple students scurried into the classroom just before the teacher stalked in, closing the door behind her.

The first thing Mal noticed about her homeroom teacher was her long blonde hair. And, just to clarify, it was _long_. Like, Mal was sure that if she were to undo the complex braid trailing behind the woman, she'd have an infinite amount of hair. And no, she was not exaggerating.

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to your senior year," the teacher began with a smile, leaning onto her desk at the front of the class, "For those of you who may not know me, I'm Miss Rapunzel Fitzherbert, but please, just call me Miss R. I teach Fine Art and Illustration.

"Senior Year is a very exciting time for people your age. You have a lot on your plates, but before I bore you with the agonising details, I'd like for us all to give a warm welcome to our new student. Mal, if you could please stand for the class?"

Mal could feel herself blushing, which didn't happen often. She hesitantly stood in her seat, offering a small wave to the class. She avoided everyones eyes apart from the Tourney Captain Boy she'd spotted at the beginning of homeroom, who offered her a shy smile.

"Mal, would you like to tell the class a little about you?" Miss R insisted, gesturing to the front of the class.

Awkwardly, Mal made her way to the front, a few whispers ensuing from a few students. With her cover story clear in her mind, Mal turned to face the class.

"Hi, I'm Mal," she began, raising a hard exterior, "My family just moved down from *N.L state, and thats really all you need to know about me."

With that, Mal returned to her seat, a sarcastic clap resonating from the back of the classroom.

"Uhm, thank you Mal," Miss R replied awkwardly, "Alright, lets begin the announcements."

* * *

By the time the bell for first period had rung, Mal was already making her way through the corridors of the school blindly, trying to find the corresponding science lab for her first Biology lesson.

"Hey," the Tourney Captain Boy interjected, moving to stand in front of her, "I-Uh, I know you're new, so I was wondering if you wanted help finding your classes?"

"I'm good," Mal shrugged, moving past him to continue looking for her room.

"My name is Ben," the boy continued, walking next to her, "I'm head of the Student Council, so it's kind of my job to make sure students are okay."

"I'm fine. I don't need the school's golden boy to babysit me," Mal insisted, groaning in frustration when she realised she'd been going the wrong way, "Why does this school have so many rooms anyway?!"

"Probably to store all the statues of me," Ben joked uncharacteristically, earning a small smile from Mal, "Seriously, what classroom are you trying to find?"

"B12," Mal relented, "But clearly I'm in the completely wrong place."

"This building only has blocks A, C and E," Ben explained, "Blocks B and D in a separate building. Just follow this corridor to the end and go through the double doors, then across the courtyard into the building directly in front of you. You're on the ground floor, sixth door to your left."

"Thanks," Mal replied sincerely, checking her watch, "I, uh, should get going. Don't want to be late for my first class."

"See you later then," Ben smiled, "If you don't get lost again, of course."

"Won't happen," Mal laughed, walking away from Ben.

* * *

Mal had soon learned that the school had decided to put her in the lowest ranking classes. This was evident in the fact that her class consisted of about eight people, and that they were all mindlessly and confusedly looking at the posters around the room, as if they'd never seen diagrams of bacteria before.

Mal took a seat at the front of the class, pulling a notebook and pen out. A few moments later, their teacher walked in. With a dark blue suit and a coffee in hand, the professor moved to his desk slowly, clearly not enjoying his morning. He sat heavily, looking around the class.

"My name is Professor Callaghan," he started lamely, "To begin this years module, we will recap topics covered from last year with a simple pop quiz."

A few of the students groaned, which the Professor hushed before continuing, "Question one: What are the two main ions that participate in electrical impulse transmission in neurons?"

"The sodium cation and the potassium cation," Mal replied almost immediately, already becoming bored.

Professor Callaghan watched her curiously as he asked the following question, "What is an example of a sensory receptor?"

"The vibration receptors in skin," Mal answered, also almost immediately.

Professor Callaghan rose from his seat, "What are some important neurotransmitters?"

"Adrenaline, dopamine," Mal began, "Serotonin, asparate, nitrate oxygen..."

"Young lady," he began, "Are you sure you're in the right class?"

"It's what my timetable says," Mal shrugged, "Is there a problem, Professor?"

Professor Callaghan bit his lip, "I think it's best to have you transferred."

* * *

To add to the embarrassment of the morning's homeroom, Mal now found herself walking into a new Biology lesson halfway through the period. Walking in with Professor Callaghan, Mal awkwardly stood at the front of the class, knowing she'd just interrupted the lecture. She avoided eye contact as Professor Callaghan began speaking to the other teacher.

"Miss Honey, I believe I have a new student for you," Professor Callaghan explained, "I have sent the transfer papers to the faculty office."

"Wonderful!" Miss Honey exclaimed, just as peppy as the secretary had been that morning, "Please, take a seat. We were just revising neurotransmitters."

Mal nodded, awkwardly shuffling to take the empty seat near the back of the class. Thankfully, everyone seemed far too invested in their notebooks to take any care of her arrival. All except one.

Mal spotted her nearly instantly due to the girls long blue hair. She was sat a few rows on her left, close to the front of the classroom. Instead of frantically scribbling into her notebook, she just seemed... Bored. Not in the way Professor Callaghan's class had been, but more as if she'd already studied the subject thousands of times. Without dwelling too much on her, Mal flipped open her notebook and also began copying out the notes on the board, hoping first period would end soon.

* * *

 ** _*N.L State:_ Stands for Neverland. Thought I'd throw a cheeky Peter Pan reference in there ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

Her first week at Auradon High hadn't been _horrible_ , Mal liked to think. She'd advanced in all her classes due to the superior education she was given in the Protectors Academy, and she'd stayed out of everyones business by simply not making friends.

Investigating was harder than she'd anticipated. Not only was the school painfully normal, but nothing seemed to be sparking any magical energy. She'd tried to use spells to track the source of magic itself, but she was unable to find anything. If she couldn't find the magical source, how could she protect it?

Freddie hadn't had much luck either. She'd also been trying to locate the source of the magic, but she had yet to discover it. It was frustrating, not knowing what they had to protect. Nevertheless, they continued as normal in the high school, attending classes and sitting alone at lunch, pretending to not know the others identity.

It was another boring Wednesday afternoon for Mal. She was once again sat alone in the corner of the cafeteria, the table deserted save for her lunch tray. She tiredly picked at the cheese fries in front of her, having already grown bored of the small selection of food in the cafeteria.

Just as she was preparing to throw away the abysmal excuse for food the school had provided, something caught her eye.

Across the cafeteria, she spotted the same blue-haired girl she'd seen in her science classes. She was sat with a group of boys with letterman jackets and girls with cheerleading uniforms, despite the fact she didn't seem to be on either team. She was animately chatting to another letterman boy with long brown hair, sporting a red beanie. Mal couldn't quite work out his face from the angle she was watching from, but the group of teenagers wasn't what had caught Mal's eye.

In the girls hands lay a small mirror, which to any mortal may have seemed harmless, but to Mal, it was a huge lead in her mission. She'd spent a whole semester in her junior year studying the properties of different enchanted items, including the retired, old enchanted items used by Protectors in the early years of their training.

The Magic Mirror was a tool famously used by Protectors to discover the location or properties of a certain person or object. Mal had only seen one in person before, which had been locked in a museum due to the substantial power it held. It had famously been used by an evil sorceress to discover her targets locations, and therefore the item had been discontinued, less than a dozen remaining in the world.

Mal couldn't quite figure out of the girl was aware of it's powers from where she was sat. In fact, she seemed to be using the mirror as exactly what it was; a mirror. If only Mal could hear what her conversation was about...

Spotting a bin near the girl's table, Mal stood up quickly to deposit her lunch inside it. She took her time approaching the table, trying to overhear as much of the conversation as possible. Upon approaching the bin, however, Mal was very disappointed in the conversation she was now eavesdropping in.

"So I have my hair appointment at five and _then_ Chad wants me to come over to help him with Calculus," the blue-haired girl sighed, "Why is my life so hard?"

"People are dying Evie," the boy with the red beanie replied, stuffing fries into his face, "Why is Chad asking you for help anyway?"

"Because he's courting me, of course!" The blue-haired girl explained, "Just like Ben did to Audrey!"

Mal sighed. It seemed that the girl was far too superficial to even know the importance of what she was holding. Nevertheless, Mal made a note to mention the item to Freddie as a possible lead in their investigation. With one final look at her now disposed cheese fries, Mal made her way out of the cafeteria to desperately search for a vending machine.

* * *

"Mal, this is huge!" Freddie exclaimed as the two sat in their dorm room back at the Academy, "Why didn't you text me?"

"Because this phone is driving me insane," Mal explained, gesturing to the cell phone on her bed, "What should we do now?"

"We could steal it," Freddie suggested, "Or deactivate it's magic powers."

"And how, pray tell, do you expect us to accomplish that without being caught?" Mal asked.

Freddie rolled her eyes, "We're Protectors. Duh."

* * *

The next morning, Mal was once again sat in her homeroom, bored out of her mind. Ben and his girlfriend were once again flirting before the bell rang, now joined by some of the same people Mal had seen the blue-haired girl sat with yesterday, as well as the girl herself.

Mal considered bringing a book to pretend to read out of sheer boredom for the next week, as homeroom proved to be the longest and most tortuous part of the day. However, this all changed upon overhearing the conversation going on near her.

"I just don't understand why we shouldn't abolish magic all together!"

Mal's eyes widened. It had been a popular debate in recent media if to abolish magic would be an improvement to modern day society, by reducing the 'abnormalities' in humans. Of course, being a Holder of Magic, Mal found the whole debate stupid. Of course Magic was important; it was the foundation of nature and the world's best line of defence. However, she was very aware of the prejudice that came with it.

Many people believed Magic was a curse; something that could potentially ruin humanity in the future. A leader of this movement happened to be the major of the small town, a man nicknamed 'King Beast'. He had once been cursed by an unruly Holder into the form of a Beast, and had since been an advocate against Magic, along with his wife Belle, the Senator of Auradon.

Mal was very well-versed in both sides of the argument, and she was not shocked to hear the group speaking about the issues. Nevertheless, she continued to listen.

'Like, think about it," Ben's girlfriend continued, "Magic has caused so many problems, with all the curses and hexes!"

"But Magic is pretty much retired," the Red Beanie boy pointed out, "There haven't been any serious incidents in years since Maleficent's imprisonment."

Mal knew the legends of Maleficent. Any and every Holder did. Maleficent had been an incredibly powerful Holder who had used her powers for evil. She had eventually been imprisoned by a group of Protectors, her location unknown. She had been banished prior to Mal's birth, and therefore she didn't know much about the ordeal.

"Because they removed her Magic," Ben's girlfriend stressed, rolling her eyes, "That's my point; if we just got rid of Magic, we'd all be better off!"

Mal noticed the blue-haired girl had stayed quiet during this debate. Mal couldn't tell if it was for her own personal reasons, or if the phone in front of her truly was more interesting.

"Audrey is right," a blonde haired boy added, finally putting a name to the face, "Magic creates more crime than it solves. I mean, have you ever actually _seen_ a Protector doing their job? I bet it's all a scam."

Mal could feel her blood starting to boil. It was an endless argument in the media; if Protectors truly did work. Truthfully, Mal knew for a fact her job was much more impactful than anyone could imagine. Protectors dealt with multiple different aspects of the world, including nature. In fact, just last week a secret mission had taken place to reduce the impact of climate change. There were so many things Protectors did for the world, but they were just unknown.

"We should start a petition!" Audrey suggested, "I'm sure if we can get the whole town to sign, we can get those anti-magic barriers in too! And if every city did it, then we-"

"You do realise that Protectors are the first line of humanity's defence, right?" Mal snapped as she turned to the group, unable to keep her thoughts to herself any longer, "Even though you don't see them, they've been using Magic for decades to protect the world from natural and criminal disasters. And they do this without an ounce of gratitude, despite this meaning they protect ungrateful people like you."

"Excuse me?!" Audrey exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips as the rest of the room fell into silence.

"Do you honestly believe that it is more important to banish Magic than to have government-trained agents and medical specialists protecting humanity and the earth?" Mal finished just as the homeroom bell rang.

Audrey pursed her lips angrily before storming out of the room. The rest of her group followed suit, however Mal could swear she spotted two sly grins from the blue-haired girl and the red-beanie boy. Ben considered following Audrey, but instead stayed seated as the homeroom teacher walked in, keeping his gaze away from Mal.

Mal knew she'd instantly made enemies with the group, but honestly, she didn't care. She was there for government business only, and with that thought, she smirked at herself in victory.


End file.
